Kick Ass Offense

Kevin Cosgrove had a short and direct response Friday to an Internet report that he was the “leading candidate” to become the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator.

“I’m not a candidate for the job,” Cosgrove said.

The Nebraska defensive coordinator last year was offered a position as the Vikings’ linebackers coach but turned it down. Cosgrove is close friends with Minnesota head coach Brad Childress, who worked with him at Wisconsin in the 1990s and Illinois in the 1980s.

VikingUpdate (vikings.scout.com) cited an unnamed source as saying Cosgrove is expected to be offered the job. His name has popped into some reports by Twin Cities newspapers since Mike Tomlin left the Vikings two weeks ago to become head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Cosgrove, 51, would not answer further questions regarding interest in the position or possible contact having been made. He recently completed his third season on the Huskers’ staff.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Wednesday that Indianapolis assistant coach Leslie Frazier was interested in the job. Frazier, who worked with Childress in Philadelphia, is off-limits to the Vikings until after Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Chicago Bears assistant Bob Babich, also considered a candidate, told the Pioneer Press he was not considering any move to the Vikings.

That's a generous view by Urlacher, who followed his 2005 Defensive Player of the Year performance with a similarly outstanding year. In fact, it may have been subtly better.

"What I saw with Urlacher was him playing better and better after they lost a couple of key guys around him," Minnesota coach Brad Childress said. "They lost [defensive tackle] Tommie Harris and they lost [strong safety] Mike Brown. When you do that, most players are going to struggle, even great ones. Urlacher kept going and he kept their defense going."

A federal judge ruled today that the widow of former Minnesota Vikings Korey Stringer’s may proceed with her negligence lawsuit against the NFL and equipment maker Riddell Inc. over his heatstroke death.

Kelci Stringer sued the league and Riddell following the death of Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Korey Stringer’s in 2001. Kelci Stringer claimed that the NFL hadn’t done enough to insure that equipment used by players protected them from injuries or deaths caused by heat-related illnesses.

Korey Stringer, a 335-pound lineman for the Minnesota Vikings, died from heatstroke after he practiced in the sweltering heat and humidity, which pushed his body temperature to 108.8 degrees. He was 27 years old at the time of his death. A Minnesota Court ruled earlier that a lawsuit against the Minnesota Vikings could not go forward since private causes of action were pre-empted by Minnesota Workers Compensation laws.

It has been 10 days since Mike Tomlin was named head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings have yet to name a new defensive coordinator. This does not bode well for the two in-house candidates: Linebackers Coach Fred Pagac and Defensive Line Coach Karl Dunbar. They clearly are not the first choice of Vikings Coach Brad Childress.

The delay likely means that former Atlanta and Green Bay coordinator Ed Donatell, who was not retained on the staff of new Falcons coach Bobby Petrino, is also not at the top of the list. Similarly, Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove would likely have been named new DC by now if he was under consideration although their is some speculation that Cosgrove would want to wait until after national collegiate signing day before leaving to avoid negatively impacting Cornhusker recruiting.

The delay strongly suggests that the Vikings are waiting to interview an assistant from this year’s Super Bowl teams, Chicago and Indianapolis. Both teams play a version of the Tampa-2 defense deployed by the Vikings last season. Bears Linebackers Coach Bob Babich stated yesterday that he has no interest in becoming the Vikings’ defensive coordinator. “I could care less about the Minnesota Vikings job.”

Other possible candidates include Bears defensive backs coach Steven Wilks and
Colts defensive backs coach Alan Williams.

Whoever it is they end up choosing Vikings fans hope the delay is part of a well thought out plan and not a continuation of the bungling which has characterized the Childress era so far with the Minnesota Vikings.